


pronunciation

by renjunnie



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Space, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21687142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renjunnie/pseuds/renjunnie
Summary: ok, wait, just hear me out. coffee...but in space.*taemin leaves the room and slams the door*
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Lee Taemin
Kudos: 17
Collections: The Kpop 100





	pronunciation

**Author's Note:**

> wrote this on october 7, 2016, for a prompt on thekpop100, a now-defunct livejournal that had really fun prompt challenges. wish someone would start something like this again :( 
> 
> you can find my original posting here https://thekpop100.livejournal.com/49604.html. since no one really uses livejournal to search/find fic, i ported it to AO3 for y'all! hope you enjoy!

Being the only human working at a Martian coffee shop wasn't very easy.

1\. It gets pretty lonely, living on a planet where you can't even go outside without special breathing equipment. Sure, the equipment's nothing like the huge spacesuits in the history books (Jongin still couldn't believe people had actually worn those), but it still set you apart from everyone else. It’s hard to blend in with what looks like a scuba mask over your nose — every time he went out, he was dodging questioning glances and barely-hidden snickers. Luckily, the shop he worked in had filtered air, so he could ditch the mask and pretend to be one of the locals… until his accent gave him away.

2\. Martian names are impossible. Hard to pronounce, even harder to spell.

It’d only been two weeks, and Jongin was already regretting signing up for the “interplanetary study” program at his college. His scholarship had covered the cost, thankfully, but he couldn’t imagine going through this for an entire year. 

Jongin hadn’t seen another human his entire stay on Mars, so when the blond boy walked in, sliding his filtration device from his face to hang around his neck, Jongin’s heart leaped. 

“What’ll it be for you?” Jongin asked, for once not self-conscious of his accent.

The blond boy’s eyes widened, taking in Jongin’s face as he asked, “Are you from Earth?”

Jongin smiled. “Yeah.”

The boy looked as if he was going to say something more, but a pointed cough from the blue-skinned girl standing in line behind him changed his mind. He shook his head slightly, fanning his hair across his forehead, and asked, “Can I just get a hot chocolate?”

“Sure,” Jongin replied, still smiling. He felt as if his smile wouldn’t leave his face for the rest of his life. “What’s the name for that?”

“Taemin.”

“Taemin-ah,” Jongin repeated, the syllables flowing smoothly off his tongue. “Finally, a name I can spell.”

Taemin snorted as he pulled the proper bill from his wallet, biting his cheek to hide his grin. Jongin took the money, gave Taemin his change, and hurried to prepare his drink. Scrawling Taemin’s name on the cup without the worry that it was spelled incorrectly gave Jongin a huge sense of satisfaction as he pressed the drink into Taemin’s hand.

“It’s good to see you, Taemin.”

“It’s good to see you too, Jongin,” Taemin replied, leaning in to read Jongin’s name tag.

Jongin never thought that hearing his name pronounced properly could make him feel so good.

“Come back soon.”

“Definitely. It’s good to see someone from the same planet.”

Jongin didn’t think his smile could get any wider. He waved to Taemin as the blond boy left the shop, and settled back behind the counter to take the next order.

He might make it through this year, after all. 


End file.
